and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
by timeladyelf
Summary: Brooklyn 99 AU, in which BB-8 attends a party, Poe is trying to get his shit together, Finn would like to know why is it always them in these kind of situations, and Luke just wants his precinct to act like grown ups for once. Alternatively, detective life involves more gossiping than expected, gloves are held hostage, and Leia regrets several decisions that led to this.


In hindsight, bringing your dog to your boss's party might not be a good idea. But hey, how was Poe supposed to know that, right?

"By thinking this through," Finn hisses, "for less than five seconds!"

Okay, that's fair. But. "He _followed_ me here! What was I supposed to do?"

"Not let him in?!"

"Just- let's just find him before the Captain sees him," he sidesteps another guest, dismaying as he spots BB-8 happily walking up the stairs, "look, he's going upstairs, quick."

"The second floor is off limits," Finn calls back, but Poe knows he's following him up the steps, "we're gonna get in trouble! We broke like, half of the Sarge's rules!"

"It'll be fine, relax. Come on, I think he went this way."

"That's the main bedroom!"

"And it's empty, let's go before someone notices we're gone." He pushes the door open in time to see the corgi trudging inside the adjoined bathroom, "we got him, he's in there."

"Finally," Finn sighs in relief as Poe picks up his dog, "can we go now?"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go, right, BB-8? Bad dog, running off like that. You're gonna be so grounded when we get home-"

"What do you two think you are doing?"

Poe jumps, almost dropping the dog, "shit, Luke. We're just-"

"Sarge, I swear this not what it looks like- no, actually it is, but-"

"No, _no,_ I could not believe the two of you when I saw you climbing up the stairs, but this is much worse than sneaking up to have sex! Where did you even find the dog? _How_ did you even bring it here-"

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on, you thought we were what?" Poe isn't blushing, he's not, _he's not_ , "and how is this worse than, than- _that_!"

Luke opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, loud voices drift from the hallway and they hurry to close the door.

" _What? You're the one always insisting to bring them here!"_

Shit. That's Han Solo.

" _Well, I'd expected you to at least pretend to be civil!"_

And the Captain. Poe panics, looks at Finn and finds him as wide-eyed as him, and Luke sighs resigned beside them.

" _And what exactly do you mean by that, hm, should I roll over the red carpet for your friends, your worshipfulness?"_

They so should not be hearing this, they were all so screwed.

"I hate you and your dog," Finn whispers passionately.

See, that probably would've convinced better if Finn hadn't been hugging the corgi like a teddy bear. Or if Luke hadn't been petting it.

But then again, a lot of things would've worked a lot better if they weren't stuck in a bathroom with his dog while the Captain and Han freaking Solo argued outside.

Poe swears the day had started out a lot better.

.

.

.

Mornings in the precinct are usually slow, made for filling up paperwork and sneaking down to steal coffee from the uniforms. So, if Poe stops paying attention to the reports he should've been writing in favour of teaching Finn how to cheat when playing cards, well, it's not a big a deal.

It started small, just the two of them, heads bent together as he tried to show him how to count cards, but then Rey had gotten bored with her own paperwork and joined them, but she was equally terrible at it, so the noise attracted Rose's attention, and then-

Well, let's just say mornings are slow and made for more than just paperwork and bad coffee.

Captain Organa arrives at 8 o'clock, sharp and pontual and confident. The elevator _dings_ and she walks in with quick strides, morning coffee in one hand and her briefcase in other.

She takes one look at their ring of both poker _and_ texas hold 'em going on simultaneously and chaoticaly, sighs, and chooses not to comment.

Mornings in the precinct are slow, and made for paperwork and terrible vengeance coffee, and their own special brand of bizarre.

"Dameron, I need the Terex files ASAP," the Captain says, throwing a meaningful look towards the forgotten pile of papers in his desk, "leave it on my desk when you finish the reports."

But when she speaks, Finn is finally managing to get the trick right for the first time, and his smile is so bright, and it's aimed directly at Poe, making his heart ache and his mouth dry and a galaxy to be born on his chest, so he's only half paying attention at best when he answers, "Sure, mom-"

He's aware enough to notice the collective pause that follows, though.

"Did you just call the Captain," Rey says slowly, " _mom_?"

"No, I said, sure, _ma'am._ "

"No, no, I heard it too-" Finn nods, and Poe kind of wants to die.

"Do you see me as a mother figure, Poe?" The amusement dancing in her eyes tells him he isn't fired yet, but along with the giggling coming from the peanut gallery, Poe is sure he's never gonna hear the end of it.

"Pff, of course not." He tries, "more like, a _bother_ figure 'cause you're always bothering me."

"Oh, is that so, detective?" One eyebrow raises.

It takes about ten seconds for him to crack. "No, I am so sorry, Captain. I didn't mean it, I don't know why I said that-"

"It's fine, it's fine," she waves him off and makes for her office, but pauses before walking away, " _son._ "

They laugh loud enough for Jess to text him asking what the fuck was going on upstairs.

.

.

.

Fine, okay, so, his day kind of started not so great, but it's nothing out of the ordinary. Actually, weird shenanigans are kind of the norm for them all, really, it's like their precinct is a magnet for odd and-

"Man, you gotta stop zoning out," Finn shakes his shoulder, "we're kind of in a crisis here."

"I know, I know," he tries to take his dog back, "c'mon BB, let's go home, hm? Do you wanna go home, buddy?"

"What are you _doing_?" Finn hisses, hugging the corgi closer, "are you _crazy_? They're still out there!"

Indeed, the raised voices coming from the bedroom could still be heard, although carrying less biting than when they started. "Well, yeah, but maybe if I go out there, I can lure them away for you guys to escape."

"Sacrificing oneself for the greater good; a very noble gesture, Dameron." Luke says gravely, "we'll see you on the other side."

"Thank you, Sergeant," he salutes, serious and somber, just because he can and because it makes Finn scowl deeper, "tell Rey she can't have my desk."

"Are you two out of your minds?" Finn throws one of his hands up, the other still trapped holding Poe's dog, "no one is leaving this bathroom, we just gotta wait it out and be _real_ quiet. They're gonna have to go back to the party at some point."

He looks at Luke. The man shrugs back.

"Yeah, okay, sure." Poe plops down on the ground, "so, Sergeant, how's R2-D2?"

Luke launches in a tale about his dog's latest adventures, while Finn facepalms.

BB-8 whines.

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.

.

He goes out for lunch with Jess because Finn is still out with Rey chasing a lead on their case and Rose made the mistake of asking Threepio about his morning and got stuck with his monologue.

And it's been a while since they hung out without a dead body nearby, so it's nice to just sit and talk.

"So, Poe, how's detective life treating you?" she asks innocently, and warning bells start ringing on his mind, "and how is that friend of yours, what's his name again?"

He sighs, "Finn?"

"Yes," she snaps her fingers, like she didn't already know, like she hadn't already grilled him about it before, "that's the one. How did you describe him, oh, right, prettiest man you've ever seen? or, literal ray of sunshine? Oh, and that time you said his smile was so bright-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," he talks loudly, trying to drown her voice before someone overheard them, "I'm screwed, I know, I know."

"Yes, now tell me, how is that working out for you?"

They are in a pizza place near the precinct, and Poe remembers coming here on his first day at work with Jess and Snap, young and fresh and idealistic. Nothing changed much, neither in him nor the place, except now the walls are blue, not yellow, and the special comes with extra cheese, and Poe isn't wearing a blue uniform anymore.

Somethings change, others don't; either way, that was seven years ago and he wonders how it's gonna look like in another seven.

He takes a bite out of his pizza. "We're friends, and I'm cool with that."

"No, you're pining, and," Jess points with her fork, "that's kinda sad."

"Your face is sad." Not his greatest comeback, he knows, but it gets her to glare at him, so he counts it as a win, "I'm just sayin', he's not into me, and that's fine, sometimes life sucks like that."

She makes a face like she's contemplating stabbing him with her fork, "you're giving up? Seriously? Dude, _dude,_ everyone with eyes can see he likes you!"

"Jess, let it go-"

"No, I mean it, even Snap said the other day-"

"There's a bet going on, isn't there?" She nods. "Damn it."

"Yeah, so a heads up when you finally get your shit together would be appreciated."

"How about never? No, don't give me that look. Jess," he swallows the last bite of his slice, "come on, what's it about the new coroner-"

She shakes her head but lets him change the subject, slapping his hand away from the olives on her plate.

Somethings change, others don't; either way, it's a nice lunch.

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.

.

They've been sitting in the bathtub in silence for almost ten minutes when the dog starts whining.

Poe isn't sure what's more impressive, that three of them managed to keep quiet for so long, that the Captain and her husband are still arguing outside or that BB-8 hadn't started squirming earlier.

It's been an exercise in patience for them all.

But now the dog is whining and yapping and Poe knows he's building up to full out barking in the near future. He scrambles to his feet, taking him from Finn, tries to shush him urgently, petting and murmuring softly for him to _please, be quiet._

It never worked before when Poe needed BB-8 to stop barking in the middle of the night, and it doesn't work now. They say dogs take after their owners, so really, he's not sure what he expected here.

Luke seems vaguely alarmed and mildly panicked, taking a step back from BB-8 as if he didn't have a menace of a dog himself.

Finn glances at the closed door guiltily, grimaces before turning to the dog and whispering as stern as he can, "do not blow this for us!"

BB-8 yaps.

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.

As soon as he steps out of the elevator, Poe is greeted by Rose, excitedly waving her phone on his face, "have you seen this? Have you seen it?!"

He blinks, pushes her phone to a more reasonable distance, squints to read the email on display, "invited to- a party? At the Organa-Solo residence?" He looks up for confirmation and she nods enthusiastically, "tonight? Wait, wait, wait. So, the captain is throwing a dinner party and _we_ , as in the whole precinct not just the Sergeant, are invited? _Damn._ "

"I know, right? We're going to see Captain Leia Organa's _house._ How cool is that?" Rose beams, already making her way to the elevator, "oh, I think Finn was looking for you? He's in the Evidence Room with Rey the last I saw him."

Poe thanks her, waving goodbye as the doors close. He's glad her hero worship already faded; she's a good kid and very good at her job, but she's an even better friend.

When she first got promoted to detective, Rose had arrived with eyes full of stars and stories and legends, she had heard all about the Empire arrest and the Starkiller case. She had spent the first week stumbling and gushing, but there's only so many late night shifts and long stake-outs before it all wears off.

Anyway.

He finds both Finn and Rey going over the evidence in their case, bickering over bullet shells and partial footprints and digitals. Finn waves him over, smiling brightly like the sun coming from behind clouds, and Poe feels the universe exploding into life inside his bones. He leans against the doorway, _hopes_ , and says, "hey, guys, I hear we're going out tonight?"

Finn chokes, and Poe goes to pat his back sympathetically, but Rey is already talking over the coughing, "I can't believe the Captain invited us over," she says, and her eyes shine in excitement, "Threepio says she's never done it before."

"Yeah, but do you think she _really_ wants us there? I mean," she glares and Finn hurries to explain, "it's all pretty last minute."

"There's that," Poe begins looking through their bagged leads, "but do you really think the Captain would do anything she doesn't want to?"

Rey looks pointedly back at Finn, who only shrugs, "sure, man, you've got a point, but I'm just saying, it _is_ last minute."

She worries her lower lip, looking young and innocent, and Poe kind of wants to ruffle her hair, but he also wants to keep all his limbs, so he wisely stays still and lets her go on, "do you think maybe it's her husband who doesn't like us?"

"Maybe? They say Han Solo never liked cops." He frowns, "even though he ended up marrying the Captain."

"And helped with the whole Empire Case." Finn adds, "and is best friends with the Sarge."

"Everything about the Empire Case is a clusterfuck, though- give that back, Dameron, go snoop around Rose's cases, I'm winning that bet-" Rey grumbles, taking from his hands the paper he had been reading, "but seriously, it's all _classified_ this and _top secret_ that. The FBI covered the whole thing up."

"And I assure you, there's quite a good reason for that." Luke speaks from the door, smirking as they all startle. That man needs a bell and one day they're going to convince Rey to convince him. It could even be in a keychain. He looks like the kind of guy that has lots of keychains, probably not to lose his keys. "Now, why are the three of you holed up in here?"

Rey shifts guiltily, "just going over the evidence for the Andrax Case. Sir."

"I see. And gossiping about old cases while you're at it, it seems." The smirk has soften into a smug smile, and Poe can kind of see the similarities between the Skywalker siblings, "you can go back to that once I'm gone, but for now, I assume you all got my sister's invitation?"

They nod.

"Very well. I trust this will not be a repeat of last Thanksgiving?"

There's a flash of horror in his eyes as Luke speaks, and Poe can see Finn flinching beside him and Rey shudders.

He had been about to assure Luke that _no, of course not_ , when Rose bursts through the door, stopping beside the Sergeant, " _guys_ , quick, Ackbar tried to heat his sandwich in the break room and now the microwave is on fire and Threepio is having a nervous breakdown!"

Yeah, okay, maybe Luke is right to be worried.

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.

.

"What is going on here?"

Poe winces, Finn whimpers and Luke shrugs. They had been so focused in muffling BB-8's whining that they didn't notice the door being open or the Captain and her husband standing in the doorway.

"A threesome?" Luke suggests, like he's not the one holding the dog.

"Really? _That's_ what you're going with?" Finn flails, burying his face in his hands. Poe can relate.

"Anyone wants to try again?"

"Uh. We are so sorry, Captain, but there's a good explanation for this, Captain- I swear!" Poe tries, looking at Finn for help, "you see, I- _we_ , were just-"

"And where did this ball of fur came from?" As if sensing he's the center of the conversation, BB-8 squirms out of Luke's hands and goes to sniff _Han Solo_ , "damn it, kid, I want to be mad, but look at the freaking dog, Leia." He shakes his wife's arm softly, gesturing BB-8 blinking up innocently at him.

"Yes, I'm aware they smuggled him inside," she shakes her head, "you are not as sneaky as you think, Dameron. Now, I expected this kind of behavior from my brother- shush, Luke, I remember Christmas last year- or my idiotic husband, but not you two."

The weight of Leia Organa's disappointed glare falls hard on their shoulders, and Poe shifts guiltily.

"But perhaps I should've, all things considered." She sighs, but there's the edge of a smile, so he breathes a lot easier, "now go, shoo, all of you, out. Chop chop. And take the dog with you, before Han adopts him."

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"Do you know why you are here?"

Poe fidgets where he's sitting beside Finn, while Luke tries to glare sternly at them from the front of the room. From the row behind them, Rey shouts, still snickering, "because Ackbar set the break room on fire?"

"That was no fault of mine!" The man in question shouts back, "how was I supposed to know there were gloves in there?"

"Didn't you look inside? Like a normal person?"

"Wait, wait," Poe sits up, "what gloves? Where are _my_ gloves? Did you microwave _my gloves?_ "

"I did not know they were in there! Or were yours!"

Wait, then- " _Rey_!" He points at the girl, "you little- why did you set them on fire?!"

"I didn't! I was just holding them hostage until you gave me my paper clips back!"

"Well you've lost your leverage now, so say goodbye to your clips!"

"No! Why don't you use yours?!"

"I did! But I used the last of mine to pick my drawer's lock!"

"Use your stapler then!"

"I can't! Rose stole mine!"

"Hey," she stands up from the back of the room, "I _borrowed_ it because mine's empty 'cause Finn used it all to fix god knows what."

"What? Wait, no, don't drag me into this, Rey's the one kidnapping gloves here!"

Rey looks like she has a lot to say about that, but Luke cuts everyone off before the argument circled back, " _enough_ , you are all here because _all_ of you cannot be trusted to act like grown ups. So, you're going to sit through my powerpoint presentation until I'm convinced you are going to behave at Leia's dinner party."

There's a second of silence, and the the room erupts in complaints. Poe exchanges a look with Finn and sighs, they're gonna be here for some time.

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.

.

He's on a bench in the garden, watching BB-8 roll in the grass while the party goes on inside when Finn sits beside him.

The night is beautiful, there's stars in the sky and the moon is full, and maybe it's all the champagne he drank earlier, but Poe's not so afraid anymore.

Finn isn't saying anything, content to sit and watch like him, but with the moonlight washing over him, _god_ , he's beautiful, and _god_ , Poe wants to kiss him. He wants to kiss him until his lungs are bursting with starlight and galaxies are scorched in the back of his eyelids.

"I-" He starts, but the words choke on his throat. He is not afraid, but he worries and worries and _worries_. All of his words cling to his bones and sinew and blood, refuse to leave the roof of his mouth. Poe wants to say _you saved my life_ and _you save it everyday_ and _I love you_ and- "thank you."

"For getting trapped in a bathroom with you and your damn dog?" Finn laughs, "you're welcome, man. But I'm telling you, we _gotta_ stop getting in these type of situations."

"Yeah, about that, why is it always us? Why not Rey or Rose for a change, you know what I mean?" He smiles, and breathing feels a little easier now, "but that's not. I mean, thanks for that too, I guess. But, I don't think I thanked you after, you know."

"The Starkiller case?" The grin is gone, and Poe hates himself a little for bringing this up now, but it was getting harder to walk around the elephant in the room, and those nights, the whole case, it's intertwined with everything after. It changed all of them, burned and cut and carved and molded.

"Yes. You saved my life back there, and then things got out of control fast, and I don't think I thanked you." His hands are shaking, in the way they do every time he thinks back to that night, so he clenches them into fists on his lap and prays Finn doesn't notice, "so, thank you."

"That's- you don't have to- I was just doing my job," Poe feels his heart thundering as Finn takes one of his fists, eases it open, entwines their fingers, "and I'm just glad you're okay."

"You did a lot more than that, and I'm pretty sure you got a medal to prove it," he waggles his eyebrows and Finn laughs, a little startled and a little choked, but squeezes his hand back, "but I'm pretty glad you're okay too, buddy. And that you're here."

He doesn't say _with me_ , but it hangs in the air, floating in the space between them. Poe thinks there's no going back now, he can't let things half-said, can't hide behind half-truths; he's here, tethering at the edge of this cliff, so he might as well jump.

"I need to tell you something," he tries, focuses on the hand holding his hand and the thigh pressed against his thigh, "but I'm going to show you instead."

Finn looks up, smiles, nods, and Poe wonders and hopes and prays before closing his eyes and leaning in.

They kiss until galaxies collide and the universe is unfolding beneath their feet.

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.

.

 _Of conversations overheard at the beginning of Leia Organa's dinner party:_

"Hey, buddy, you look- I mean, that's a nice suit."

"Thanks, man, you, uh. You clean up nice too."

"Thank you. Do you want to, to grab a drink?"

"Yes! I mean, sure, cool. Are you okay, though? You look a little-"

"Oh no, nope, I'm good. It's just, it's a little stuffy in here, isn't it?"

"Yeah, no, right. That drink, we should-"

"Yeah, let's-"

"Wait, is that- Poe, is that your _dog_?"

" _Shit._ "


End file.
